Ments



W. R. RAY

Feb. 3, 1931.

OIL FEEDING AND REGULATING DEVICE- FOR OIL BURNERS Filed April 9, 1928 2Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

fn l BY l f r'//K ATTORNEYS.

Feb. 3, 1931. w R- RAY 1,791,012

OIL FEEDING AND REGULATING DEVICE FOR IL BURNERS Filed April 9, 1928 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Feb. 3, 1931 UNITED STATES wiLLiAm n.' BAY, or sAN irnANcrsoo,cALrronNu, Assieme., 'BY nenn Ass-ien.'

MENTS, T RAY BURNER COMPANY, 0F SAN rIoN or DELAWARE on. manine ANDREGULATING nnvicn' 'non on. nu I I Appiicatiun med pnl e, 192s'. serialmi. 263,438.

In t e operation o? automatic oil burners of the atomizing type, whetherrotary, pressure actuated or otherwise, it is common practice toautomatically ignite the oil when the burner is started by means of agas ilaine, an

electric spark or the like.

To insure ignition of the oil during the starting operation, it isnecessary to adjust the burner so that a rich mixture is obtained, andit is later necessary to readjust the burner valve so as to reduce theoil feed or mixture, as incomplete combustion would otherwise result.

It is accordingly desirable, especially when fuel oils of heavy gravityare used, to increase the oil supply during the starting operation inorder to produce a rich mixture, 2o thus making ignition prompt andpositive. It is furthermore desirable to maintain this rich mixtureuntil the temperature of the furnace or lire box is high enough tosustain combustion, when the mixture may be reduced to normal to insurea clear and smokeless flame.

It might also be stated that the rateof flow of heavy gravity fuel oilsthrough pipe lines, valves, etc., before reaching the burner or zoneof-combustion, depends to a large extent upon surrounding temperatures.Fpr instance, if the boiler or furnace room is fairly cool before theburner is started, the oil will be thick and viscous and the flow orquancomparatively small. Conversely, as the temperature in the boilerroom rises the oil pipes will become warmer and the oil iow willincrease and the burner valve will accordingly require adjustment, bothbefore and after starting.

The object of the present invention is to provide an oil feeding endregulating mechanism operable in conjunction with a burner oftheatomizing type, which will. automatically increase the pressure on theoil line so as to insure a rich mixture during the starting operation;to provide a mechanism of this character which will maintain thepressure 5 and accordingly a rich mixture until the fire tity of oildelivered to the burner will be box and furnace room reach a propertemperthis character which will automatically reduce the pressure on theoil to a normal fire condition after the proper temperature has beenattained, so as to insure a clear and smokeless fire. Y

The invention is shown by wa of illustration in the accompanyingrawings, in

-which- Fig. is a diagrammatic view showing the oil feeding andregulating mechanism as installed in the oil pipe line of an oil burner.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section of the by-pass valve.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical central section of lan electric motoractuated byfpass valve.

Referring to the drawings in detail, and particularly Fig. 3, Aindicates a casing on the interior of which are formed two chambersgenerally indicated at B and C, the

chamber C being in communication with the chamber B through dischargeports 2 and 3. The port 3 is normally closed by means of a check valve 4which is retained on its seat 5 by .means of a compression spring 6.This spring is interposed between the valve 4 and an adjusting screw 7,and the tension of the spring may accordingly be adjusted as Willhereinafter be described. The screw extends through a plug 8 mounted inone end of the casing A, and it is enclosed by a cap 9'to preventtampering, once the proper adjustment has been made.

'The port 2 normally remains open to permit a free flow of oil from pipe10 through `chamber C, port 2 and into the chamber B,

and from there through a discharge pipe generally indicated at 11. Port2 will, however, be closed by means of a valve 12 under certainoperating conditions. The valve 12 is formed on the end of a stem orplunger rod 13, on the upper end of which is formed a gear rack -14which continuously meshes with a driving pinion 15, this pinion beingdriven at a reduced speed through a chain of spur gears or thelike,'such as indicated at 16, which are driven from an electricinduction motor generally indicated at D. When a cir- FRANCIBCO,CALIFORNIA, L COR'ORL-i ature; and further to provide mechanism of cuitis closed through the motor and the rotor rotates, power will betransmitted through the gears 16 and the pinion 15 to raise the stem 13and the Valve 12 attached thereto. During such raising movement a spring17 is laced under com ression, this spring serving the function ofclosing the valve when the circuit through the motor is opened.

The motor D, together with the reduc-tion gears driven thereby, areenclosed in a housing generally indicated at E. This housing is screwedor otherwise secured to the upper end of the housing A and the twohousings are sealed or separated with relation to each other by means ofa flexible bellows tube 18 to prevent crude oil from entering the upperhousing E. Bellows tubes of this character are generally employed, and adetail description thereof is considered unnecessary. Suffice it to saythat the upper fiange of the bellows tube indicated at 19 is securedbetween the housing sections, while the lower ange of the bellows tubeis secured to a collar 20 formed on a valve stem. A flexible seal isthus formed which permits Vertical movement of the valve stem, therebypreventing leakage of oil from one housing to the other.

The valve mechanism just described will hereinafter be referred to asthe electrically operated valve. There are only two additional valvesrequired in the system, to-wit, a by-pass valve such as indicated at F,and a regulating valve such as indicated at The by-pass valve F is bestillustrated in Fig. 2. It consists of a main housing having an inletconnection 22 and a discharge connection 23. A valve seat 24 is formedin the inlet opening, and cooperating therewith is a valve 25y whichisretained on the seat by means of a compression spring 26. This spring isengaged at the opposite. end 'by' an adjusting screw 27, this screwbeing similar to the screw 7 previously described, being adjustable andenclosed to prevent tampergIhe valve G may be an ordinary globe orneedle valve, its only function being that of regulating the oil supplyto the burner.

In actual practice the valves illustrated will in most instances beconnected so as to cooperate with the type of burner shown in my PatentNo. 1,193,819, entitled Oil burner, issued August 8, 1916.

The type of burner disclosed in the patent referred to employs a rotaryatomizing cup such as indicated at 30, (see Fig. 1) to which the oil isdelivered through means of a pipe 31, the valve G controlling the. flowof oil through the pipe 31. This cup is .rotated at high speed by meansof an electrical motor such as indicated at 32, the speed beingsuflicient to cause the oil delivered to the cup to be centrifugallyprojected and atomized.

The motor is driven from any suitable source f electric current supply,as by means of the wires 33 and 34. The inductionmotor D is connected inparallel therewith through wires 33a and 34a, and a thermostat ofsuitable construction is mounted as at, 35. A' bimetallic type ofthermostat is here illustrated. When the atmosphere is cold thethermostat member 35 assumes the position shown in Fig. 1, therebymaintaining the contacts 36 and 37 separa-ted, but when the temperatureincreases beyond a predetermined temperature the contacts close and acircuit through the induction motor will be established.

The valves A, F and G are connected in the oil line as shown in Fig. 1.The oil supply is represented by a tank such as indicated at 38. A pumpof suitable construction is mounted at the point 39. The suction sideof' the pump is connected with the tank 38 through a pipe 40. Thedischarge side of the pump is connected with a pipe 41 and this deliversthe oil to the valve G and the supply pipe 31 which in turn delivers theoil to the atomizing cup.

The pump under actual operation will dei-h liver a greater quantity ofoil than that required by the burner, and a return pipe line isaccordingly required. This return line consists of a pipe 42 which isconnected with the by-pass Valve F. The pipe 10 connects with thedischarge side of the by-pass valve and enters the intake of the valveA, the discharge side of the valve A being connected with the tank 38through means of pipe 1l.

The operation will be as follows:

On a cold morning the oil is exceedingly thick and viscous and undersuch temperature conditions the contacts 36 and 37 will remainseparated. When the burner is to be started the circuit is closedthiougli the motor 32 and the pump 39 is simultaneously placed inoperation. The spring 26 of the by-pass valve F will under normalconditions be adjusted so that it will not open to bypass oil until apressure of approximately 30 pounds is reached. Thus, excess oil willbypass through the valve F the moment 3() pounds pressure is reached andthe by-passed oil will as such reach the valve A. The valve 12 is closedunder starting conditions and so is the valve 4. The spring 6 isadjusted so that it will not open until a pressure of 45 pounds isreached. The pressure 'in the pipe line will thus build up to 45 poundsbefore it can by-pass thro-ugh the valve 4 and return to the tank 38. Inother words, a total pressure of 45 pounds will he exerted on the oildelivery line 41 and this pressure will be sufficient to deliversufficient oil to the atomizing cup to insure a rich starting mixture.

After the burner has been in operation for a while and the temperatureadjacent the burner begins to increase sufliciently to actuate thethermostat 35, this will gradually close and will finally close thecircuit through the induction motor D when the contacts L36 and 37engage. At this time the general surrounding atmosphere has increasedmaterially in temperature and the oil pipe lines have warmed up to suchan extent that the oil is liowing more freely. The moment the circuit isclosed by means of the thermostat through the induction motor D, thisstarts rotating, and through the reduction gears 16, the pinion 15 andthe rack 14, raises the valve 12. The oil entering through the pipe 10will thus discharge freely through the chamber C, the port 2 and thechamber B, and as such will return through the pipe line 11 to the tank38 without any material resistance, a ld the pressure on the pipe line41 is accordingly automatically reduced 15 pounds. The normal operatingpressure being controlled by the spring 26 of the valve F, and as thisis set for 30 pounds pressure the normal operating pressure aftercertain temperatures have been reached will be 30 pounds.

-The oil flow to the atomizing cup is thus automatically decreased,"themixture becomes leaner and a clear and smokeless lire is obtained.

From the foregoing it becomes apparent that I have provided means forautomatically `increasing the pressure on the oil pipe line whenstarting cold and when the oil is viscous and dillicult to handle. Ihave similarly provided means for automatically reducing the pressure asdesired when tem erature conditions become such as to permit a free flowof the oil. p

While certain features of the resent nvention are more or less specically described, I wish it understood that various changes may beresorted to within the sco e of the appended claims; similarly, that t ematerials and finishes of the several parts employed may be such as themanufacturer may decide or varying conditions or uses may demand.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is: ,t f

1. The combination with an oil burner and a pipe line for delivering oilthereto, of a pump for supplying oil to the pi e line under pressure, aby-pass return pipe ne to return excess oil to the pump a by-pass valvein the by-pass line, means for regulating the bypass valve so that itwill not open and permit return of oil until a redetermined pressure hasbeen built up in t e ipe line which suplies the burner, a secon valve inthe b -pass ne adapted to be regulated so that 1t will not by-pass oiluntil a predetermined higher ressure has been built up in the oil supplyne to the burner, a third valve in the by-pass line and temperatureactuated means for ppenin said last named valve so as to permit e oily-passed by the rst named valve to return freely to the pump.

2. The combinationl o an oil burner, of

oil under pressure means for deliveri gbjecting the oil to the thereto,said means temperature of the surrounding atmosphere,

and means for maintainin a high predetermined pressure on the o1l whenthe temthe surrounding atmosphere reaches a prede-v termined normaltemperature.

WILLIAM R. RAY.

Lil

